Designs by Tauranga sisters Cindy and Colleen Mac are among entries on the catwalk at the Fieldays AgArt Wear Awards this week.

Cindy used dried flowers and leaves to create her autumn-inspired design while Colleen incorporated plastic packaging and toi toi in hers.

The Roman goddess of agriculture was the inspiration for this AgArt Wear design.

The sisters, who live in Auckland, are among contestants from throughout the country who entered the event which requires designers to use materials sourced from the farm, rural industries and the natural environment.

Each day the innovative designs are paraded daily at Fieldays and on Friday night will be part of the Rural to Runway Gala Dinner and awards show at the Atrium, Wintec House in Hamilton.

The winners of the contest, which has $12,000in prizes, will be announced then.

Day one of the four day Fieldays at Mystery Creek attracted a crowd of 26,648: a figure event manager Vanessa Richmond says is typical of the event.

'The crowds turned up for our opening day and we're very pleased to be bringing everybody an extra special event this year with several new or reformatted areas.

'There has been a huge interest in our innovations with its new format competition which has attracted amazing entrants.”

Cindy Mac, formerly of Tauranga, used dried flowers and leaves in her autumn-themed AgArt Wear design.

Another busy area on day one was Kiwi's Best Kitchen – extremely popular with visitors enjoying the new layout and demonstrations from chefs, including Josh Emett, and the eight Rural Bachelors competing at this year's Fieldays.

This year's Premier Feature ‘Getting Down to Business in the Global Economy', set the tone for a range of exhibits and seminars based on the challenges of meeting global demands and growing New Zealand's economy. Premier Feature sponsor, Ministry for Primary Industries, has a strong alignment with this year's theme and their staff are busy at Fieldays, presenting seminars and talking to visitors at their stand.

The 45th annual Fieldays was officially opened by Minister of Primary Industries Nathan Guy who had earlier held a ‘Meet the Minister' session in the Fieldays seminars.

The Fieldays seminars continue today and feature a robust schedule of informative agricultural-based sessions giving Fieldays visitors the opportunity to hear industry leaders discussing topical events.

New Zealand National Agricultural Fieldays is on until June 15 at Mystery Creek Events Centre, 10 minutes south of Hamilton. For more information www.fieldays.co.nz

Toi toi plastic wrap were used by Colleen Mac in her AgArt Wear design.